Olimar (PM)

Olimar is a playable character in the Brawl mod Project M. He comes with his Pikmin in tow and a stronger moveset for Project M. Despite the power buffs, Melee physics and higher lag in most of his attacks have put him in an unfavorable position for Project M.

Olimar ranks 39th out of 41 on the officialtier list, at the bottom of the D tier. This is a significant drop from his tier placement in Brawl, where he was ranked 3rd out of 38, and is the largest any Project M character's standing has fallen when compared to their Melee or Brawl tier list.

In Brawl, Olimar excelled at defensive gameplay, being able to camp effectively with his Pikmin. These capabilities have put Olimar 3rd on the Brawl tier list. As Project M focuses more on offensive gameplay than defensive gameplay, Olimar's moveset has been consequently altered.

Olimar's Pikmin in Project M are stronger and have more endurance than before. Also, the Pikmin now have a mechanic where their strength is dependent on the type of flower on their heads. Besides the buffs to the Pikmin, Olimar's ground game has been improved, possessing more powerful tilts, smash attacks, and throws. Olimar's aerial game also saw some positive adjustments, featuring two potential KO moves in his up and down aerials. Finally, Olimar's recovery, Pikmin Chain, which was unreliable and low-reaching in Brawl, has been replaced with the more useful Ionium Jet.

However, Olimar has many weaknesses in Project M. While he is heavier than he was in Brawl, Olimar is still fairly light, making him susceptible to KOs earlier than other characters.

Pikmin strengths are dependent on the flowers on their head; bud and flower Pikmin are more powerful. While Bud Pikmin power is equal to the Brawl Pikmin, Leaf Pikmin are weaker, and both do not possess any special effects for attacks, though Flower Pikmin are more powerful, which combined with their increased durability cause Pikmin to be overall more useful for attacks.

White Flower Pikmin leave flowers on victims' heads for all their attacks, increasing their potential and do more pummel damage at blossom.

Olimar can only carry 4 Pikmin at a time, instead of 6 which limits his use of varied Pikmin and encourages Olimar players to focus more on their Pikmin's survivability within the new transformation mechanics.

The introduction to the Melee physics inhibit Olimar and his metagame, along with indirectly buffing most of the cast, allowing their metagames to outshine that of Olimar, which was among the best in Brawl. As with Snake, Olimar does not benefit from these physics and the techniques that come with them other than L-canceling.

Pikmin Pluck gives Olimar a short boost upwards every time it is used in midair, so it can be used repeatedly (but not unlimitedly) to recover in a manner similar to Pound.

Pikmin Pluck has been slowed down.

Olimar has a new up special: Ionium Jet. This move propels Olimar upward diagonally on a jetpack, damaging enemies along the way, and unlike Pikmin Chain its effectiveness is not based on the number of Pikmin accompanying Olimar, making this new move a more reliable recovery.

Ionium Jet only ledge sweetspots at the end of the move, making it easy to intercept.

Pikmin Order has been significantly sped up, so it can be used for about five times per second, allowing to call Pikmin back with little to no ending lag.

Olimar headbutts twice. The first attack's hitbox goes as far as the antenna on his head.

5%

Forward tilt

10%

—

Olimar kicks both legs forward, falling to the ground. Has decent knockback at higher percentages.

Up tilt

8%

—

Olimar hops and preforms an upwards headbutt. Olimar's head is intangible when performing this attack.

Down tilt

6% (body), 2% (antenna)

—

Olimar slides head-first at the enemy, moving a small distance forward. Deals minimal knockback and combos well into other moves early on. The hitbox goes as far as the antenna on Olimar's head.

Dash attack

7% (clean), 4% (late)

—

Olimar does a cartwheel forward. Deals primarily vertical knockback and a good combo starter.

Forward smash

—

16%-20% (clean), 12% (mid), 9% (late)

13%-15% (clean), 9% (mid), 6% (late)

14%-16% (clean), 11% (mid), 6% (late)

9%-11% (clean), 6% (mid), 3% (late)

16%-18% (clean), 16% (mid), 13% (late)

A Pikmin leaps forwards with a spinning bodyslam. Damage and knockback of the move depends on which Pikmin is used, with the Red Pikmin dealing the most damage, the Purple Pikmin having the strongest knockback, and the White Pikmin being the weakest, both in damage and in knockback. A weak hit will occur if a Pikmin connects as it falls, making this move good for edgeguarding, but the Pikmin will die if thrown off the edge.

Up smash

—

14%-18% (clean), 10% (late)

11%-13% (clean), 10% (late)

12%-14% (clean), 9% (late)

7%-9% (clean), 5% (late)

14%-16% (clean), 10% (late)

A Pikmin rockets upwards into the air. Olimar's fastest smash attack and is great move for juggling. Possesses huge knockback when it's a purple Pikmin with a flower, being able to KO at 85% on heavyweights even without charging.

Down smash

—

14%-18% (clean), 10% (late)

11%-13% (clean), 8% (late)

12%-14% (clean), 9% (late)

7%-9% (clean), 4% (late)

14%-16% (clean), 10% (late)

Two Pikmin dashes out to simultaneously on either side. Deals no vertical knockback, making it useful against heavyweights and/or characters with short horizontal recovery. An enemy can actually hit both Pikmin if they are in between Olimar. If only one Pikmin is present when using this attack, it will attack in front of Olimar.

Neutral aerial

2% (hits 1-5)

—

Olimar spins in place, hitting multiple times. The last hit has moderate knockback and is a potential combo starter.

Forward aerial

—

13-17%

10-12%

12-14%

6-8%

13-15%

Olimar swings a Pikmin forward in a downward arc. Has decent vertical knockback. This move can be wavelanded from a short hop, but it is difficult to do consistently.

Back aerial

—

15-19%

12-14%

14-16%

8-10%

15-17%

Olimar swings a Pikmin behind in a upward arc. This move turns Olimar around in the air.

Up aerial

—

13-17% (clean), 7% (late)

9-11% (clean), 5% (late)

11-13% (clean), 6% (late)

5-7% (clean), 3% (late)

13-15% (clean), 8% (late)

Olimar lifts a Pikmin upwards over his head. An ideal KO move when used with a red or purple Pikmin. Long duration helps in pursuing air dodges.

Down aerial

—

15-19% (clean), 9% (late)

13-15% (clean), 8% (late)

14-16% (clean), 8% (late)

9-11% (clean), 4% (late)

15-17% (clean), 11% (late)

Olimar strikes downward with a Pikmin. The move itself is a spike, being strongest with the red Pikmin and weakest with the white Pikmin.

Grab

—

—

Olimar sends a Pikmin forth to grab an opponent.

Pummel

—

2%

2%

2%

2-6%

2%

Pikmin attacks with headbutt.

Forward throw

—

6%

7%

12-16%

6%

7%

The Pikmin releases the foe forwards. Strongest in terms of knockback with the blue Pikmin.

Back throw

—

7%

9%

12-16%

7%

9%

The Pikmin swings the foe backwards by slamming them onto the ground. Strongest in terms of knockback with the blue Pikmin, with purple Pikmin only being slightly weaker.

Up throw

—

7%

9%

12-16%

6%

10%

The Pikmin leaps into the air, turns the opponent upside-down, then slams them into the ground. With the blue pikmin, this move can Star KO even heavyweights at 130%, with the Purple Pikmin being slightly weaker than the blue Pikmin.

Down throw

—

1% (hit 1), 6% (throw)

1% (hit 1), 8% (throw)

1-5% (hit 1), 9% (throw)

1% (hit 1), 5% (throw)

1% (hit 1), 7% (throw)

The Pikmin slams the foe into the ground. This throw can be used to tech-chase fastfallers and heavyweights, and can combo into an aerial at higher percentages.

Olimar quickly pulls out a random Pikmin out of the ground. What type of terrain where this move is used has some influence on what type of Pikmin will be pulled out more often. Olimar can have up to four Pikmin following him, and trying to pluck another, will result in Olimar grabbing nothing and being vulnerable for a moment. Using the move in the air will make Olimar rise up a little, but it only once.

Olimar throws a Pikmin at an enemy, who will latch onto the enemy and will slowly rack up damage. Different Pikmin have different effects when thrown. If the target cannot be latched onto, or the Pikmin is Purple, it simply deals damage. The Pikmin can be reflected back at Olimar, in which case, they will stick to him instead. The player can simply use Pikmin Order to get them off and avoid taking damage.

Up special

Ionium Jet

10% (startup), 1% (hits 1-7), 5% (hit 8)

—

Olimar jets upwards diagonally, dealing damage while flying. If Olimar takes a hit while using this move, Olimar will loses his jump (even if he did not use his second jump before using Ionium Jet).

Olimar quickly blows his whistle, and a colored area surrounds him. Any Pikmin that are separated from Olimar will, after a split second, immediately fly to his side. This can be used to recall ones that have fallen behind or are pummeling an enemy, though Pikmin in the midst of some actions (such as travelling after being thrown) cannot be recalled. If there are no Pikmin separated from Olimar, the ones in Olimar's line will be organized by colour. If they are already in sorted order, the next colour of Pikmin will be sorted to the front, following the order of Red, Yellow, Blue, White, and Purple, with the previous front-runners being shifted to the back. As various Pikmin have different strengths, Olimar must do this to control his lineup to get the most out of it.

In terms of cosmetics, Olimar now has a clearer blue team color, his black costume from Brawl now has darker skin rather than a darker helmet, he has a purple alt, and his blue color from Brawl now has blonde hair to further reference Louie.